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Trump said Iran had sought a Doha meeting with US officials on Tuesday. The conflicting messages underscored how fragile the interim deal remains amid Hormuz tensions.
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Dubai,UPDATED: Jun 29, 2026 17:32 IST
President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran had asked for a meeting with US officials, even as an Iranian negotiator said no talks had been scheduled. Trump said on social media that the meeting would take place on Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.
The claim came as the US tried to hold together an increasingly fragile interim deal with Iran amid rising hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days. Any disruption there could push up oil prices and weaken Trump's claim to voters that inflation in the US was easing.
Earlier on Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said USD 6 billion in frozen Iranian assets would be released by Qatar, even as negotiations with Washington were being tested by attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend. His reference to the funds appeared aimed at building public support in Iran for the interim deal, especially as the country's control over the Strait of Hormuz has been challenged by efforts to open Oman's territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf.
Pakistan, which has acted as a key mediator, said talks would resume on Tuesday. The Trump administration said on Sunday that nothing had been cancelled and that technical talks remained on track in the coming days. However, Kazem Gharibabadi, a senior Iranian negotiator, rejected reports that discussions had been fixed. He said, "Although consultations with Qatar, including on following up on the implementation of the other side's commitments, are continuing as usual, reports by some media about technical talks by the working groups being held in Doha are not confirmed."
Technical talks involve lower-level diplomats working out the details of any agreement before senior leaders from Iran and the US return to the table. The latest signals from Washington and Tehran showed that contacts were continuing, but both sides gave different accounts of whether formal talks in Doha had been scheduled.
With PTI Inputs
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Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Jun 29, 2026 17:32 IST
